Apparatus for life-saving in case of fire.



APPLICATION FILED MAYG, 1910.

Patented 111211221, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

/aflzesses THE NORRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON, o c.

P. SOHERRBB.

APPARATUS FOR LIFE SAVING IN CASE OF FIRE.

APPLICATION rum) MAYG, 1910.

THE rvonms pz-rzns 60., wasnmamu, n. c.

tinrran sfra rns arena carton.

FRANZ SCI-IERRER, OF BERLIN, GERIVIANY.

APPARATUS FOR LIFE-SAVING IN CASE OF FIRE.

serene.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANZ SCHERRER, a subject of the King of Prussia,German E1nperor, residing at Berlin, German Empire, have invented anApparatus for Life-Saving in Case of Fire, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for life saving in case of fire.It is usual to provide buildings with safety ladders which rest flatagainst the wall when not in use, but which in case of need can be soturned about a vertical axis that they project at a right angle to thewall. This construct-ion is moreover so arranged that the separateladders when in the condition of rest coverthe separate windows of avertical line of windows, and that after swinging them out, connectingladders which are pushed up against the main ladder in the position ofrest, fall down in order in this manner to form a continuous ladderextending from the ground to the roof at right angles to the wall. Thisconstruction, which has in general proved serviceable, has neverthelessva rious drawbacks. Firstly, the ladders in the position of rest projectover the window on the outside, whereby the opening of the windows isinterfered with, and also the entrance of the light is hindered. Suchconstruction moreover is practically excluded from application tobuildings of architectural importance. Further, the ladders areconstantly exposed to the weather, which is particularly injurious tothe mechanism which although simple, is nevertheless indispensable.Further, by manipulation it is not always possible to secure an exactlycorresponding position for the several ladders so that sometimes acontinuous series of ladders extending from below to the roof isinterrupted. Further, the pivoting shaft which passes through all thestories must be supported by the building which, especially in the caseof constructions applied to already existing buildings, is troublesomeand costly. Finally, it is a drawback that the pivot shaft in the casein which it is not desired to make special provision for it, (whichagain leads to further inconveniences), must carry the weight of all theladders, whereby it is subject to excessive strain and the swinging outis rendered more difiicult. All these drawbacks are avoided by thepresent inven tion so that safety ladders on this principleSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 8, 1910.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Serial No. 559,810.

can now be constructed without the above mentioned objections.

The present invention comprises the improvement that the separateladders in the position of rest are placed, not parallel to the wall,but at right angles thereto, and can in case of need be extended atright angles to the wall. In the position of rest the ladders are drawninward so far that only their outer rails or preferably the specialcovering plates hereinafter described, are visible.

The extension of the ladders can be effected by means of suitablegearing and by a vertical shaft, which however, is not fixed in thebrickwork but is placed inside the building so that it can be built inwithout trouble.

The entire mechanism of the device remains covered when out of use sothat it is not only protected against the influence of weather but it isnot in the way. As the separate ladders are extended exactly atrightangles to the wall and the amount of the projection is exactly limitedby a catch, the ladders will exactly correspond one with another inposition. The separate ladders "no longer overweight the vertical shaftbecause they are each separately and independently supported by theirown horizontal shafts so that the vertical shaft is no longerunfavorably influenced and the handling of the device is renderedeasier.

In the accompanying drawing a device of this kind is illustrated asfollows:

Figure 1 shows the front elevation of a window with the covering platewhich is alone visible. Fig. 2 shows a horizontal sec t-ion of Fig. 1 onthe line O3fI/. Fig. 3 shows a vertical section through the wall whenthe ladders are extended. Fig. 4 shows an elevation of the entire wallon a reduced scale. Fig. 5 shows a corresponding vertical section withthe ladders extended.

The separate ladders a are fixed bet-ween bars I) b and are connectedwith these latter by the rods (Z (i into a rigid combination. The barsZ) 6 can move at right angles to the wall, guided by the rollers fattached to the top and the bottom respectively of the window openings.The bars 7) b are provided at their inner ends with a rack, whichengages with corresponding gear wheels g of the vertical shaft 71,. Byturning the handles 2' one of which is placed on each floor, the entireset of ladders a can thereby be extended, whereupon the connectingladders 70 attached to the principal ladders in the well known mannerwill fall down, and fill up the gaps. The bars I) are so constructed attheir inner ends that their projection is strictly limited by these endsencountering the wheels 9 or other suitable stops. Moreover the devicemay also be actuated from the outside by means of the auxiliary handle7) (Fig. After use, the connecting ladders 7': are again caused totelescope into the principal ladders in the manner already known, byhand or otherwise and are retained by the catches m. By the turningbackward of one of the crank handles 2' or 7), all the ladders a aredrawn back together with the connecting ladders, so that outside onlythe covering plates g which are attached to the outer side rail of theladder remain visible. At the side the space in which the ladders areplaced is closed by means of a partition 1' of sheet iron, wood, orother like material.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is:

1. In combination in a device for lifesaving from fire, a series ofvertical ladders retractable within the window embrasures and normallyconcealed therein, side plates fixed to said embrasures and adapted toconceal one side of said ladders, covering plates fixed to the outerrail of said ladders and adapted to close the space between each sideplate and the corresponding window jamb, a pair of horizontal barsattached to the top and bottom respectively of each ladder section,means for supporting said bars and ladder sections, a vertical rotatableshaft entirely located within the building, and mechanism whereby therotation of the shaft projects the entire set of ladders beyond thewindow embrasures and at a rightangle thereto.

2. In a safety ladder composed of rigid vertical sections adapted to beretracted and entirely inclosed within vertically superposed windowembrasures and connected together in the position of use by telescopingconnecting ladders; fixed side casings attached to the windows, frontplates attached to the outer rail of each ladder, a pair of horizontalextension rods attached to each vertical ladder section, supportingrollers for said extension rods on the window embrasures, a rack on eachpair of extension rods, a vertical rotatable shaft located within thebuilding parallel to said ladder sections, sets of gearing on said shaftso disposed that by rotating the vertical shaft all the racks will beextended or retracted, and.

limiting stops on said extension rods preventing the ovcrwinding of themechanism in either direction.

3. In combination in extensible and retractable safety ladders forescape from fire permanently attached to a building a plurality of rigidvertical ladders mounted to move in straight horizontal lines at a rightangle to the wall of said building and substantially vertical to theground, connecting ladders movably attached to said rigid ladders, andmechanism located within the building and adapted to extend and retractthe rigid ladders.

FRANZ SGHERRER. In presence of LoUIs VANDORY, Bnssrn F. DUNLAP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

